I'm gonna start with this. H.G. Wells is a much better writer by modern standards than Jules Verne.
There. Glad we got that out of the way. I really try not to judge older books by modern standards of fiction, but there are times when it's really hard to not just flip out over how terrible these guys are compared to a lot of authors today. I mean, why didn't anybody understand how pacing worked back then? I'm not reading fiction to get a history lesson, or a biology lesson, or gain a deep understanding of how polite society works. I'm reading so I can get some distance between the world I'm in and myself.
All that being said, H.G. Wells isn't just better than Verne by modern standards, he's better than a lot of modern authors by those same standards. He is currently my favorite author, and happily, essentially all his work is in the public domain!
Feeding a desire is great. Doing it for free is better.
So anyway! The Time Machine. This book was nothing like what I expected based on trailers for that movie of the same title made a decade ago, or that episode of Wishbone. It was much much much much better than either of those sources had led me to believe it would be. My first kudos goes to Wells' explanation of the fourth dimension, and his suppositions related to moving through it. The time machine itself was underdeveloped, but I've got to give him props for using the same theoretical nature of the appearance of the fourth dimension as I'm using in my sci-fi universe. You know, great minds think alike and all that.
On a side note, if you've ever wondered how an omniscient God and the concept of man's free will could possibly co-exist, I'd recommend this book. Wells doesn't say anything about that, but the concepts he describes are an intriguing way of looking at that seeming paradox.
His commentary on a society of the distant future is interesting as well. I think one of the most important responsibilities of an author writing sci-fi is to address the effects of technology. Take technology we have and explain the consequences of it, or introduce some new technology and explain its consequences. To society, to nature, whatever. Considering the title of the book, I was a little surprised to find that Wells didn't use the time machine for this purpose. It was a tool to examine the consequences of technological advancement as he saw it at the time. And I think what was most interesting to me about that was that he looked so far into the future (800,000 AD, I think?) that heck, he may still be right. I could see a lot in the evolution of society in the past 70 years that supports his predictions.
But of course, like any sci-fi, there are as many reasons to ignore those predictions. The important thing is, there is a sense of realism to the entire story, and that is key with sci-fi. It's a different world, and I know that. But I'm expecting science of some form, so however you structure the rules of your universe, make it seem believable. Wells does that in both of the books of his I've read, and that is why he's my favorite author right now.
And um... I don't really have much bad to say about this. The main character is kinda racist, but the way the story is told makes it seem like the racism isn't really condoned by the author. His racist tendencies almost get him killed, twice. And he learns from it. Which is kinda refreshing.
Reasons why you might not like this book? You uh... don't like sci-fi? Or you only read stupid-dense 1,000-plus page reference books. Those are about the only reasons I can think of. Otherwise, I'd bet you'll enjoy it immensely.
There. Glad we got that out of the way. I really try not to judge older books by modern standards of fiction, but there are times when it's really hard to not just flip out over how terrible these guys are compared to a lot of authors today. I mean, why didn't anybody understand how pacing worked back then? I'm not reading fiction to get a history lesson, or a biology lesson, or gain a deep understanding of how polite society works. I'm reading so I can get some distance between the world I'm in and myself.
All that being said, H.G. Wells isn't just better than Verne by modern standards, he's better than a lot of modern authors by those same standards. He is currently my favorite author, and happily, essentially all his work is in the public domain!
Feeding a desire is great. Doing it for free is better.
So anyway! The Time Machine. This book was nothing like what I expected based on trailers for that movie of the same title made a decade ago, or that episode of Wishbone. It was much much much much better than either of those sources had led me to believe it would be. My first kudos goes to Wells' explanation of the fourth dimension, and his suppositions related to moving through it. The time machine itself was underdeveloped, but I've got to give him props for using the same theoretical nature of the appearance of the fourth dimension as I'm using in my sci-fi universe. You know, great minds think alike and all that.
On a side note, if you've ever wondered how an omniscient God and the concept of man's free will could possibly co-exist, I'd recommend this book. Wells doesn't say anything about that, but the concepts he describes are an intriguing way of looking at that seeming paradox.
His commentary on a society of the distant future is interesting as well. I think one of the most important responsibilities of an author writing sci-fi is to address the effects of technology. Take technology we have and explain the consequences of it, or introduce some new technology and explain its consequences. To society, to nature, whatever. Considering the title of the book, I was a little surprised to find that Wells didn't use the time machine for this purpose. It was a tool to examine the consequences of technological advancement as he saw it at the time. And I think what was most interesting to me about that was that he looked so far into the future (800,000 AD, I think?) that heck, he may still be right. I could see a lot in the evolution of society in the past 70 years that supports his predictions.
But of course, like any sci-fi, there are as many reasons to ignore those predictions. The important thing is, there is a sense of realism to the entire story, and that is key with sci-fi. It's a different world, and I know that. But I'm expecting science of some form, so however you structure the rules of your universe, make it seem believable. Wells does that in both of the books of his I've read, and that is why he's my favorite author right now.
And um... I don't really have much bad to say about this. The main character is kinda racist, but the way the story is told makes it seem like the racism isn't really condoned by the author. His racist tendencies almost get him killed, twice. And he learns from it. Which is kinda refreshing.
Reasons why you might not like this book? You uh... don't like sci-fi? Or you only read stupid-dense 1,000-plus page reference books. Those are about the only reasons I can think of. Otherwise, I'd bet you'll enjoy it immensely.
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